Usually, a door opening-closing device for a vehicle such as a remote control device for a sliding door includes multiple lever members which are interlocked with a door handle of the vehicle (inside and outside door handle). In such a configuration, a locking mechanism provided in a vehicle door thereof is operated based on movements of these lever members.
In addition, a locking lever which is in cooperation with the lever members and can switch between locked states of the vehicle door is provided in such a door opening-closing device (for example, see JP 2008-144402A (Reference 1)).
As illustrated in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, a locking lever 70 includes a first lever 71 and a second lever 72 which are connected to each other to be relatively rotatable and a spring member (torsion coil spring) 73 that biases both the first lever 71 and the second lever 72 such that the first and second levers rotate in a direction opposite to each other. In addition, contact portions 75 and 76 which come into contact with each other and thereby, enable both the first lever 71 and the second lever 72 to be held at relatively rotating positions are provided in the first lever 71 and the second lever 72. Accordingly, the locking lever 70 is configured to enable the first lever 71 and the second lever 72 to integrally rotate based on a biasing force of the spring member 73 and to enable the first lever 71 and the second lever 72 to relatively rotate against the biasing force of the spring member 73.
That is, for example, the locking lever 70 is configured such that the second lever 72 is driven in an unlocking direction based on a driving force of a locking actuator as in the door opening-closing device disclosed in Reference 1 and thereby, the first lever 71 rotates in the unlocking direction integrally with the second lever 72. Accordingly, a movement of the lever member connected to the door handle (outside) is transferred to the lever member connected to the locking mechanism and it is possible to enter into an unlocked state in which an operation of the door handle enables an opening movement of the vehicle door.
In addition, in the locking lever 70, even in a case where the second lever 72 is driven in a locking direction from such an unlocked state, the first lever 71 rotates in the locking direction integrally with the second lever 72. Accordingly, a movement of the lever member connected to the door handle is not transferred to the lever member connected to the locking mechanism and it is possible to enter into a locked state in which it is not possible to cause an operation of the door handle to enable an opening movement of the vehicle door.
Here, in a case where the door handle is operated before the rotating locking lever 70 moves to an unlock position, there is a possibility that the first lever 71 enters into a state of being confined to a non-rotatable manner. Even in such a case, it is possible for the second lever 72 to rotate in the unlocking direction against the biasing force of the spring member 73 present between the first lever 71 and the second lever 72.
That is, in this case, a user takes off a hand from the door handle and then the lever member connected to the door handle returns to its initial position and then, the first lever 71 moves to an unlock position based on the biasing force of the spring member 73 present between the second lever 72 and the first lever 71. Further, an interior locking operation member which is interlocked with the second lever 72 can normally perform an unlock operation. Accordingly, even when a problem of interference between the lock operation and such a door handle operation described above arises, it is possible to smoothly perform switching of the locked state.
In addition, in the example of the related art, the first lever 71, the second lever 72, and the spring member 73 which configure the locking lever 70 are integrally assembled in advance. Specifically, the locking lever 70 has a configuration in which a shaft 78 provided in the second lever 72 is inserted into a through-hole 77 provided in the first lever 71 and thereby, a rotating shaft thereof is formed. In addition, the spring member 73 is fitted into the shaft 78. In addition, both spring end portions 73a and 73b bent in an axial direction thereof are inserted into engagement holes 79 formed in the first lever 71 and the second lever 72, respectively, and thereby, the spring member 73 engages with the first lever 71 and the second lever 72. Accordingly, the first lever 71, the second lever 72, and the spring member 73 are integrally configured with each other and improvement of work efficiency thereof is achieved.
However, according to the configuration in the related art described above, the work of inserting each of the spring end portions 73a and 73b of the spring member 73 into the engagement holes 79 of the first lever 71 and the second lever 72 is complicated. This is the reason why improvement of the work efficiency is hindered and thus, there remains room for improvement.